Bernd Mayländer

Bernd Mayländer (born 29 May 1971 in Waiblingen) is a German racing driver and current Formula One safety car driver.

Bernd started his career in karting sport at the end of the 1980s.

In the following years he made his way to the Formula Ford, the Porsche Carrera Cup and the original DTM.

In 2000, he won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in a Porsche 911 GT3-R.

When the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series was resumed in 2000, he drove for Mercedes-Benz.

He has driven the Formula One safety car since 2000 with very few exceptions, such as the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix, when he was injured and was replaced by Marcel Fässler and the 2002 United States Grand Prix when he was replaced by Irish racing driver Damien Faulkner.

He raced for Mercedes in DTM from 2001 to 2004, having won one race at Hockenheimring in 2001.

Mayländer is the safety car driver for all Formula One races.

In May 2005, he was one of six Mercedes-Benz drivers taking part in a record drive.

Three stock E320 CDI cars drove 100,000 mi in 30 days around the clock, which resulted in an average speed of 139.7 mph.

† Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

1 - Shanghai was a non-championship round.

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

As of 2018, Mayländer had led over 700 laps in Formula One during his career.